About the Artist:
Loy Allen is a South Dakota native who returned to the Black Hills after
studying design at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (B.A., 1975).

After learning basic lampworking in South Dakota, Ms. Allen studied advanced
glass techniques at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina and
at The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. She has been
self-employed as a flameworker since 1979.

Ms. Allen is a member of the South Dakota Artists Network, the Black Hills
Artists Network, the Glass Art Society, the American Craft Council, sits
on the Board of Directors of the Rapid City Arts Council and chairs the
Programming Committee of the Dahl Fine Arts Center of Rapid City, South
Dakota.

My inspiration comes from the natural world, the hills and plains of
Dakota. Stylistically, I am inspired by the art of the Art Nouveau Age.
Like the artists of that time, I am interested in a depiction of plant
and animal life in a pantheist spirit. My natural forms are meant to be
expressive without being strictly realistic. I hope my work evokes the
mystery and power of nature in a feminine, celebratory voice.